The Highwayman (Takari Style)
by Android Eleven
Summary: At last! I wrote something that only has one part! Okay, so, this is kind of a poem-fic, but the poem parts actually tell the part of the story, so you have to read them. Haha! Anyway, this is a takari (no duh) and there are some TEENY hints of Taiora and


  
Author's Notes: Hey people! The Digimon characters belong to Akiyoshi Hongo, Saban, Toei and them. The poem, "The Highwayman", even though I have changed it a bit to suit my personal tastes, was written by Alfred Noyes. I hold no rights to any of these things, I'm only using them for non-profit fun, and so please don't sue me (I don't own anything worth taking anyway). Point two, TK and Matt are NOT brothers in this fic. And one last thing... YOU GUYS HAVE TO READ THE POEM PARTS TOO (Those are the ones that start and end with these ~ things)! DON'T SKIP OVER THEM OR THE STORY WON'T MAKE SENSE! Thank you.  
  
  
  
  
The Highwayman (Takari Style)  
  
~ The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,  
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,  
The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,  
And the highwayman came riding-   
Riding-  
Riding-  
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. ~  
  
*  
  
It was a full moon on the windy night that Takeru had chosen to make his return. He had not been there for weeks, but that was not unusual. Not for a person in his line of work, anyway. If you stayed in one place too long you'd get caught. Not that he wouldn't be able to escape if he was, but it made things go all that much quicker if he wasn't.  
  
As a matter of fact, Takeru shouldn't have been there at the old village inn at that moment at all. Someone might see him. But... He smiled, thinking back to the reason that he had come... it was worth it.  
  
*  
  
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed into the dark inn-yard,  
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred.  
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there,  
But the landlord's brown-eyed sister,  
Kari, the landlord's sister,  
Plaiting a dark red love knot into her long brown hair.  
  
*  
  
Kari was sitting awake in her bedroom, braiding her hair when she heard a familiar whistle outside her window. She had stayed awake waiting for that whistle every night for the past two weeks. She raced to her window and threw open her shutters, searching the ground below for the person she knew would be there.  
  
She was not disappointed. Just below her window, seated upon his ebony-colored horse, was her love, Takeru, the highwayman.  
  
"Kari," he said adoringly, admiring her profile from below, "I have missed you."  
  
She blew him a kiss. "I have missed you too, Takeru. Will you be staying here long?"  
  
Takeru shook his head, before responding. "No. But I had to see you. It's been far too long."  
  
*  
  
And, back in the old inn-yard, a stable-wicket creaked  
Where Davis the stable boy listened; his face was white and peaked;  
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like moldy hay,  
But he loved the landlord's sister,  
The landlord's red-lipped sister.  
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-  
  
"One kiss my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,   
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light.   
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,  
Then look for me by moonlight,   
Watch for me by moonlight,  
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."  
  
*  
  
Takeru rose in his stirrups, pulling himself up to Kari's window. As he was holding himself up, rather unsteadily, by gripping her windowsill, she wrapped her arms around him firmly and pulled him further in towards her. Now he could manage to hoist himself up so that he was sitting on his darling's windowsill, inside her bedroom. He studied his surroundings; they'd become familiar by now.  
  
"You said you wanted a kiss before you left?" Kari asked timidly after a few moments of silence. Takeru gave her a quiet smile and nodded, but did not move. He was waiting for her to make the first move. She was usually a bit shy about doing that, but she had done it before and so he knew she could do it now. He merely continued to gaze at her.  
  
Finally Kari got sick of sitting there watching him watch her. She walked over to him and placed her hands on either side of his neck and slowly moving her face down towards his. "Takeru?" she asked just as their lips were on the verge of meeting.  
  
"Mmm?" he responded, eyes closed, inhaling her rose-like scent.  
  
"Did you mean what you said the last time you were here? About quitting the criminal thing and getting married once you finish this last job?" Takeru chuckled quietly.  
  
"I knew I could count on you to take me seriously about that. Yes, I meant it, sweet Kari." He paused and caressed her cheek. "Every word of it."  
  
Kari smiled softly and captured his lips with her own. He responded and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. After a few moments he released her and he slowly backed out the window onto his horse, holding her hand the whole time, until he was too far down and was forced to let go.  
  
He tugged at his reins and started off, but then he yanked the horse to a halt and looked back to Kari. "I love you," he yelled quietly, scared that someone, mainly Kari's brother Tai or his wife would hear. Kari smiled.  
  
"I know."  
  
Takeru took one last look back at her and called out, "Look for me by moonlight, Kari. Watch for me by moonlight. I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."  
  
Kari blew him one last kiss and then Takeru tugged at the horse's reins once more and he galloped away to the West.  
  
But little did Takeru know, Tai and his wife were not the ones he should have worried about. Because back in the stables, Davis had suddenly come up with a horrible idea. An idea that would make Kari his forever...  
  
* * * * *  
  
It was late in the morning when Kari finally came down to join her brother and his wife Sora for breakfast the next day. When she emerged from her room and went downstairs, she was still half-asleep, a fact that did not go unnoticed by her family. "Did you sleep well, Kari?" Tai asked her, concerned, when she sat down.  
  
"Oh, fine. Thanks for asking, Tai," she responded, trying to seem sincere, but the yawn that escaped her mouth betrayed her. Sora grinned at her.  
  
"I think Kari's fibbing." Kari threw Sora a mock glare before grinning.   
  
She had always adored Sora, even before the girl had married her brother. Kari and Sora had first met when Kari was a child, before her parents had passed away. She had been sent to the market to buy some fresh bread for the inn and Sora was the baker's daughter. Tai and Sora had met each other long before then, as Tai had been allowed to go to the village by himself for years, and so Kari had heard all about her from Tai, but she was still nervous about meeting her. Kari really wanted her brother's best friend to like her.  
  
But she had and she still did and now the two were pretty much sisters. Kari had been overjoyed when Tai had told her he and Sora were going to get married and now they were better friends than ever.  
  
The Kamiyas' maid, Mimi, came over to fill Kari's juice glass and the family continued with their chat. Kari tried her hardest to enjoy it, but she just couldn't free herself from the nagging thought that this would be the last time she'd ever have a conversation like this with the two of them. If Takeru kept his promise, then she would be leaving them in only a matter of hours. But at the same time she couldn't help but be excited. The love of her life was coming to take her away to some new life- a life for the two of them to share.   
  
*  
  
~ He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;  
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,  
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,   
A redcoat troop came marching-  
Marching-  
Marching-  
King Ken's men came marching, up to the old inn-door. ~  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kari was up in her bedroom, packing her more important possessions, when she heard people arrive in the inn-yard. She looked out her window, not expecting to see anything spectacular. It was an inn after all; people came all the time. But what she saw frightened her very much. Outside in the yard were at least half a dozen redcoat soldiers, the men of King Ken. And there was only one reason Kari could think of that they'd be there for.  
  
"Oh, no."  
  
*  
  
Back outside in the yard, one of soldiers had knocked on the door and was waiting for the landlord to emerge. Yamato Ishida, the commander of that particular troop, glanced back at the boy exiting the stables. Davis walked towards the men with an expectant look on his face. Yamato jumped down from his horse to speak to him. "You must be our 'mysterious source'," he started, pulling a large bag of gold from his saddle and handing it to Davis. "Our king is grateful for your information about the criminal, Takeru Takaishi, and hopes that you will accept this as a reward."  
  
*  
  
Yamato and his soldiers were seated around Tai dining room table, eating supper. Peering in at them through the kitchen door, Sora sighed and let the door close. She turned to face her husband. "Tai, I don't want them in our house. They're making me nervous. What do they want here?"  
  
"I don't know, Sora, but I intend to find out." With that Tai took the plate of food and pitcher of ale that Mimi handed him and entered the dining room.  
  
"So, uh," he spoke to Yamato as he wiped his hands with the dishcloth in his hands after setting the food on the table, "Is there a particular reason you guys are here or are you just dropping by?"  
  
The room became suddenly silent. Yamato looked at him, an expression that looked almost amused, on his face. "Tell me, Mr. Kamiya... What do you know of Takeru Takaishi?"  
  
"The highwayman? Not much."  
  
Just then a board creaked from the direction of the staircase. Yamato gestured to one of the men to see what it was. The man was gone only a short moment before he returned, dragging a tearful Kari with him.  
  
*  
  
~ They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,  
But they gagged his sister and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed.   
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their sides.  
There was death at every window   
And hell at one dark window;  
For Kari could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride. ~  
  
*  
  
To say that Kari was scared would have been beyond an understatement. She was petrified beyond belief. But not for herself, she was scared for her beloved Takeru; he had no idea what was in store for him.  
  
*  
  
~ They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest,  
They bound a musket beside her with the barrel beneath her breast.  
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.  
She heard the dead man say-  
"Look for me by moonlight.  
Watch for me by moonlight.  
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way." ~  
  
*  
  
Kari twisted her hands behind her back but the knots were too secure. But she continued to wriggle her hands until her fingers were soaked with sweat or blood; she couldn't tell which. She stretched and strained at her bindings for what seemed like forever. But then, just as the downstairs clock struck midnight, the tip of her finger touched the musket's trigger.  
  
As soon as she touched it, she stopped struggling. She didn't want to risk catching the soldiers' attention. She stood up straighter, the barrel against her chest.   
  
And then she looked back out the window. There lay the bare road, flooded with moonlight. The blood in her veins throbbed, praying for her dear Takeru's safety.  
  
*  
  
~ TLOT-TLOT, TLOT-TLOT! Had they heard it? The horse hoofs ringing clear?  
TLOT-TLOT-, TLOT-TLOT, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?  
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,  
The highwayman came riding-  
Riding-  
Riding!  
The redcoats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still!  
  
TLOT-TLOT, in the frosty silence! TLOT-TLOT in the echoing night!  
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!  
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,   
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,  
Her musket shattered the moonlight,  
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him- with her death. ~  
  
*  
  
Takeru was galloping down the old dirt road towards the inn when it happened. He was caught up in thoughts of his dear Kari, the woman who was soon to be his wife. But they were interrupted by the sound of a musket shot.  
  
He hesitated for only a second. He could tell that the shot had come from the inn and he knew that Tai didn't own a gun. And that meant that it was a stranger, probably a soldier, who was there waiting for him.  
  
*  
  
~ He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood  
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!  
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew gray to hear  
How Kari, the landlord's sister,  
The landlord's brown-eyed sister,  
Had watched for her love in the moonlight and died in the darkness there. ~  
  
* * * * *  
  
Takeru had rode into the village the night before after hearing the shot. He had stayed with some old friends of his parents, the Izumi's. Koushiro Izumi had been student of Takeru's father and now Koushiro and his wife, Yolei, would give Takeru a place to stay whenever he was in the village.  
  
Yolei's little brother Cody also lived with the couple. He was the apprentice to the village doctor and so he usually spent a large part of his days with him. But Cody had not returned home the night before and Yolei was very worried about him.  
  
They were just about to sit down to breakfast when Cody burst in the door, looking completely exhausted. Yolei slammed Takeru's glass onto the table in front of him without filling it and stormed over to her brother. "And where, in the almighty world, have you been?!? I have been worried sick! What if you'd..." Takeru stood up and walked over to the counter to fill his glass himself, knowing that Yolei would be too busy lecturing Cody to do it. Koushiro simply shook his head.  
  
"Look, sister, I'm very sorry, but I have a good reason," Cody broke in. "Doctor Joe was called up to the village inn at mid-night and I had to go with him. He needed me. The inn-keeper's sister, Kari, was killed!"  
  
As Cody said this, Takeru was in the process of carrying his glass back to the table. But as soon as Kari's name was spoken, he dropped his glass and it shattered on the floor. 'No,' Takeru prayed, 'No, no, please no.'  
  
Then, without a word, Takeru ran out the door.  
  
*  
  
~ Back he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,  
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!  
Blood red were his spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,   
When they shot him down on the highway,   
Down like a dog on the highway,  
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.  
  
* * * * *  
  
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,  
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,  
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  
A highwayman comes riding-  
Riding-  
Riding-  
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.  
  
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs into the dark inn-yard,  
And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred.  
He whistles a tune to the window and who should be waiting there,  
But the landlord's brown-eyed sister,  
Kari, the landlord's sister,  
Plaiting a dark red love knot into her long brown hair. ~  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's Notes: Nothing important left to say. I hope you all liked it and, to those who may be reading my stories "The Arrow, the Staff and the Shield" or "Future's Quest" I'll be posting the next chapters soon. Thanks! ^_^ Toodles!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
